Conversation Starter: Best of the Year So Far Picked by Readers

Believe it or not, we are closing in on the time of year when the "Best of the Year [So Far]" lists will begin to come out in droves.

While I enjoy seeing these lists both to get an idea on what to suggest to patrons AND for collection development purposes, they are all "expert" opinions. What we really need are more reader generated lists because we are helping readers, not experts, find books to read for their enjoyment [and I say this knowing full well that I am in that "expert" camp].

My main focus when I am training ALL library staff to provide Readers' Advisory service can be summarized in this statement [found here always on my 10 Rules of Basic RA Service page]:

Flip Your Focus and Think Like A Reader

This change of attitude begins with you, the individual library worker. You need to embrace yourself as a reader, rediscover the joy of what you love to read for yourself and why, and then share that with others, all while listening to them share their books. We learn so much from each other about why individual  readers enjoy what they do and why, so much more than from an expert telling his why the book is great.

When I write my professional reviews, I try to think about the book's best reader. Who would that individual reader be? And then I write the review to speak to that person. When I do my reviews on Goodreads of the books I have read for fun [not paid to read], I take a different tone. I am the book's best reader [or not] and I write about how the book worked for me, and if it didn't work great for me, then who it would work for better.

But this change of attitude should not stop with you, or even your co-workers. We need to look at all of our resources with a nod toward  the average reader. What do people who have "no skin in the game," people who are just reading for reading's sake think about the books that have been released this year so far?

That is an important list. One that speaks directly to readers, but also gives you insight into what other readers are thinking. It allows you to hear from them directly. There are many examples of  these reader driven best lists, but this week, Book Page released one of the first. Here is their Readers' Choice of the top 20 of the year so far. I found some surprises on the list, titles that were not on my radar, and others, that were barely there.

Now, let's circle back in this post to you and your fellow staff members as readers. This Book Page list is a great prompt for you to get your fellow staff members-- all of them, no matter where in the organizational structure they fall-- to start their own list, but don't make their dependent upon the book being out in 2020.

Get a staff conversation started about what is the best thing they have each read in 2020 so far is. Make sure you are clear that the copyright date on the item does not matter. For our purposes, as a library, with access to an extensive backlist, when the book was released does not matter, rather, just that it was read in the fist half of 2020. Use this as a chance to discuss positive things amongst the staff, things that are not tied to the stress of the pandemic. Compile a list of the titles mentioned, combine it with the Book Page list, and then make a display. As libraries begin to start opening up again, it can be online AND in the building.

Then as we start welcoming patrons back to our physical locations*, we can use this conversation starter as a great welcome message. We care what you have been reading. We have been reading too. In fact, here is what we have been reading and enjoying. Here is what readers across the country have enjoyed. What about you? Share with us. Let's make a local list of the best reads of the year so far.

Most of all, this supports my belief that we all should spend more time thinking like readers since we are helping readers and not book critics. When we remind the patrons that we are readers too, it makes them more comfortable to ask for help. Plus, it is fun; for everyone involved. And you know what, we could all use a little fun right now, especially fun that will also improve our service to patrons.

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*I am not going to enter the conversation about how and when buildings open both because I think each individual community needs to decide for themselves [I am a trustee actively engaged I this conversation], and because many already are open in some way. If I ignore that, those staff get no help from me, and that is completely unfair to them.